First day of school
My parents had chosen the school. It was just one week before the start of the semester and I, four years old, had never seen the place I would spend another five years at. So, today was the day that I would get to glimpse the campus.
We were on our way to an event, I don’t remember what it was, and passed along Orchard Road to get there. Along the right was an endless fence. Tall, black, with gates at various intervals. The bars were thinly spaced so seeing the buildings was difficult.
The very first day was daunting. I know I must have experienced many new sights and sounds but what I remember most strongly from that humid Singaporean morning was the stench of steaming laksa being prepared for the hordes of giants in the High School.
The experience was vile. The buildings were unimaginably tall, cold, and bleached white from the glaring relentless sun. The teacher had a strong accent, I would only later learn that she was Canadian, which was exotic and hard to follow. Everyone was nervous, everyone felt tiny, and by 3 P.M. (nap-time) everyone was exhausted.
It was an anomalous start to a half-decade that I would love, but from that first day’s experience, I was dreading Tuesday morning 9 A.M., and the start of assembly.






1 Comment


